Start every function with the equal sign (=)

If you omit the equal sign, what you type may be displayed as text or as a date.
For example, if you type SUM(A1:A10), Excel displays the text string SUM(A1:A10
) and does not calculate the formula. If you type 11/2, Excel displays a date, s
uch as 2-Nov or 11/02/2009, instead of dividing 11 by 2.
Match all opening and closing parentheses
Make sure that all parentheses are part of a matching pair. When you use a funct
ion in a formula, it is important for each parenthesis to be in its correct posi
tion for the function to work correctly. For example, the formula =IF(B5<0),"Not
valid",B5*1.05) will not work because there are two closing and only one openin
g parenthesis. The correct formula looks like this: =IF(B5<0,"Not valid",B5*1.05
).
Enter all required arguments
Some worksheet functions have required arguments (argument: The values that a fu
nction uses to perform operations or calculations. The type of argument a functi
on uses is specific to the function. Common arguments that are used within funct
ions include numbers, text, cell references, and names.), and some functions (su
ch as PI) take no arguments. Also, make sure that you have not entered too many
arguments. For example, the UPPER function accepts only one string of text as it
s argument.
Enter the correct type of arguments
Some worksheet functions, such as SUM, require numerical arguments. Other functi
ons, such as REPLACE, require a text value for at least one of their arguments.
If you use the wrong type of data as an argument, Excel might return unexpected
results or display an error.
Nest no more than 64 functions
You can enter, or nest, up to 64 levels of functions within a function. For exam
ple, the formula =IF(SQRT(PI())<2,"Less than two!","More than two!") contains th
ree functions: The PI function is nested inside the SQRT function, which is in t
urn nested inside the IF function.
Enclose other sheet names in single quotation marks
If the formula refers to values or cells on other worksheets or workbooks, and t
he name of the other workbook or worksheet contains a non-alphabetical character
(such as a space), you must enclose its name within single quotation marks ( '
).
Place an exclamation point (!) after a worksheet name when you refer to it in a
formula
For example, to return the value from cell D3 in a worksheet named Quarterly Dat
a in the same workbook, use this formula: ='Quarterly Data'!D3.
Include the path to external workbooks
Make sure that each external reference (external reference: A reference to a cel
l or range on a sheet in another Excel workbook, or a reference to a defined nam
e in another workbook.) contains a workbook name and the path to the workbook.
A reference to a workbook includes the name of the workbook and must be enclosed

in brackets ([]). The reference must also contain the name of the worksheet in
the workbook.
For example, to include a reference to cells A1 through A8 on the worksheet name
d Sales in the workbook (that is currently open in Excel) named Q2 Operations.xl
sx, the formula looks like this: =[Q2 Operations.xlsx]Sales!A1:A8.
If the workbook that you want to refer to is not open in Excel, you can still in
clude a reference to it in a formula. You provide the full path to the file, suc
h as in the following example: =ROWS('C:\My Documents\[Q2 Operations.xlsx]Sales'
!A1:A8). This formula returns the number of rows in the range that includes cell
s A1 through A8 in the other workbook (8).
Note If the full path contains space characters, as does the preceding example,
you must enclose the path in single quotation marks (at the beginning of the pa
th and after the name of the worksheet, before the exclamation point).
Avoid dividing by zero
Dividing a cell by another cell that either contains zero or no value can result
in a #DIV/0! error.
For more information about this error, see Correct a #DIV/0! error.
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